Thursday, March 31, 2016

What's wrong with saying "settled"? "Settled" does not deny that there were other people there as well. It is just typical Leftist hatred for the society they live in that lies behind this nonsense

A top Australian university has rejected claims it is trying to rewrite the nation's colonial history. Students are being encouraged to use the term "invaded" rather than "settled" or "discovered", and avoid the word "Aborigines".

The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Indigenous Terminology guide states that Australia was "invaded, occupied and colonised".

But UNSW says it does not mandate what language can and cannot be used. "It uses a more appropriate, less appropriate format," a UNSW spokesperson said in a statement to the BBC.

"The guide suggests referring to Captain [James] Cook as the first Englishman to map the continent's East Coast is 'more appropriate' than referring to his 'discovery' of Australia."

Students are instructed to use the terms "Indigenous Australian people" or "Aboriginal peoples" in place of "Aborigines" or "the Aboriginal people", to avoid implying that all Indigenous Australians are the same.

The guide also lists words such as "primitive", "simple", "native" and "prehistoric" as less appropriate than "complex and diverse societies".

Use of a term such as "nomadic" is discouraged on the grounds that it implies Indigenous Australians were not permanently settled, supporting the doctrine of terra nullius that English settlers used to justify occupying land in Australia. Rubbish. terra nullius was a much later doctrine

The guidelines have sparked outrage in Australia's tabloid Daily Telegraph newspaper and on talkback radio.

Conservative radio host Alan Jones said: "Don't try and restrict the thinking of university students by some so-called diversity toolkit on Indigenous terminology rubbish which dictates game, set and match that Cook's arrival in New South Wales must be referred to as an invasion."

"One student might well argue in favour of invasion and another in favour of settlement. The argument should be judged on its quality. But prejudice and political correctness are anathema to genuine scholarship and learning."

The peaceniks were just working themselves up into an orgasm of righteousness when it all collapsed

Another day, another horrific hate crime in Seattle. Staff at the Africatown Center for Education and Innovation in Rainier Vista came upon evidence of a burglary and racist vandalism today. The center, which operates out of the UMOJA Peace Center, runs educational and arts programs for African-American students as well as women’s and immigrants groups. It is temporarily suspending all activity.

Some equipment was stolen, but more alarming were the messages left scrawled on whiteboards, including swastikas, “N****r babies/Vote Trump,” and “Kell [sic] Wyking”—a death threat directed to Wyking Garrett, a respected community activist who runs the center. The center shared photos of the graffiti and the damage on Facebook.

“Seattle will not tolerate this kind of hate,” Mayor Ed Murray said on Twitter. “We are ready to support Africatown Center as they work to recover, and know they’ll be back stronger than ever.”

Reached by phone, Africatown Development Coordinator Yalonda Allen said she’s not sure when the attack took place and it’s unclear how the vandals got inside. She and other staff are still assessing the damage.

“For me personally,” she said, “it makes me feel even more vigilant in the fight for racial justice.” …

Allen said the vandals may have been “emboldened by a culture that’s allowing hate speech in mainstream media.” …

UPDATE 6:09 p.m.: The SPD says on its website it suspects an East African male of committing the crime. The police have arrested him.

From the Seattle PD’s Blotter:

The initial incident was on Sunday, March 20th, and involved a known East African male who volunteers at the center writing an insufficient funds check to the center, and also the theft of some computers and electronics. The center personnel suspected this volunteer for the theft but couldn’t prove it. He arrived there while the officers were on scene and was interviewed and his father offered to pay for the bad check, and also to pay for the stolen items if he in fact had stolen anything, and the center personnel agreed to this. Officers did not make an arrest due to lack of probable cause for burglary/theft and restitution agreement on the check.

Later in the week the center was burglarized again, but this time there was graffiti targeted at African Americans. The center personnel again suspected the same East African male who was not present. He was located about four hours later, and after being interviewed was arrested for burglary. The racist graffiti was documented in the report and photographed.

The suspect was arrested for the burglary and is a suspect in the bias crime.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

An atheist who sued the mayor of Corpus Christi and two city council members for allegedly violating the Texas Constitution by attending a groundbreaking ceremony for “the tallest cross in the Western Hemisphere” has withdrawn his lawsuit.

The lawsuit Patrick Greene filed earlier this month in Nueces County District Court accused Mayor Nelda Martinez and City Council members Lucy Rubio and Carolyn Vaughn of violating the state constitution’s prohibition on giving a preference to any particular religion by attending the Sunday groundbreaking ceremony in January.

Greene told Fox News that the 210-foot-tall cross, which is being erected on property belonging to the Abundant Life Fellowship and financed by private donations, was “tacky as hell” and a “safety hazard.”

"When I saw the mayor in her official position and the council in their official positions attending a groundbreaking ceremony for a Christian symbol – that smacked right in the face of the Constitution of the state of Texas," Greene said.

An unrepentant Martinez told the Corpus Christi Caller Times that building a cross overlooking Corpus Christi Bay was a dream of her late father’s.

“The name of our city is ‘Body of Christ’ and I will tell you, I will never forget that conversation I had with my father about his dream and his hope," she said, adding that “I will never regret being there for this wonderful moment.”­­­­

On January 28, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an “official recognition” of the groundbreaking. “Throughout our great state, communities of faith work every day to share God’s message of love and put it into action. This 210-foot cross will do just that on a truly grand scale, and it’s only fitting that it tower over the city called ‘the Body of Christ’.

“It’s always appropriate for a church to invite members of their community to attend their services, and city officials are free to attend church services as they so desire,” said Jeremy Dys, senior counsel for the First Liberty Institute, which represented the church. “That’s what religious liberty means.”

A market stall has come under fire from shoppers for selling and displaying a rack of racist tea towels featuring controversial dolls.

Melbourne University pro-vice chancellor Ian Anderson was at the Flinders Market over the Easter weekend in Mornington Peninsula, south-east of Melbourne, when he stumbled across the stall.

The stall included a rack of colourful striped tea towels branded 'Good Golly', believed to be Gollywog dolls and 'Picanninny' - an offensive term for a child with dark skin.

Professor Anderson, who was with a young group of Aborigines, said they felt sick to their stomach when they saw the items being sold.

'They have a kind of superficial charm about them, they're sort of innocent. They're the sort of thing that is part of kids' stories. But they are deeply out of place in Australian society,' Prof Anderson told The Age.

'What's at the core of them is a really disturbing stereotype of indigenous Australia, of black people. It's naive and out of place.'

The controversial 'Golliedolls' - with their frizzy hair, dark skin and clown lips - have sparked public outrage since they rose to popularity in the 1970s.

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Leftist hate speech against Trump

Here's an example. One of many. It just oozes hate of the Donald

As the idea of Donald Trump winning a major party nomination goes from ugly nightmare to increasingly real possibility, pundits are wondering why they didn’t see it coming. One reason is that many pundits, particularly on the right, have spent decades pretending that the ugly racial sentiments Trump panders to either don’t exist or are a minor aberrance on the radical fringe. Others have tried to blame economic conditions, an important factor that can’t fully explain the Trump phenomenon (there aren’t many poor Blacks rushing to vote Trump). Research suggests that racial animus is a much more powerful predictor of Trump support than “economic anxiety.” We argue that the core of the Trump phenomenon is decades of dog-whistle race-baiting made real: Trump is animating white racial fears in order to race toward the Republican nomination.

How about saying much the same about Hillary? Would that be racist? Would it be hate speech? Undoubtedly. See the translation below:

The idea of a Hillary presidency is an ugly nightmare. The Left have spent decades pretending that the ugly anti-white racial sentiments she panders to either don’t exist or are a minor aberrance. Research suggests that racial animus in the black community is a much more powerful predictor of her support than “economic anxiety.” We argue that the core of the Hillary phenomenon is decades of race-baiting made real"

A controversy about presidential politics, free speech, and creating an inclusive campus environment erupted at Emory University this week, with a group of students protesting after messages supporting Donald Trump appeared on campus.

Student protesters told the president of the private university in Atlanta that they felt threatened and intimidated by the pro-Trump messages, first reported in the Tab Emory. A national debate ensued.

Many students, expressing hurt, frustration, and outrage over the chalkings, marched to the president’s office with demands and grievances.

Though initially President Wagner refused to send a campus-wide response, he later felt compelled to address students in an email conceding to implement “immediate refinements to certain policy and procedural deficiencies, regular and structured opportunities for difficult dialogues, a formal process to institutionalize identification, review and [the] addressing of social justice opportunities and issues and a commitment to an annual retreat to renew our efforts.”

Wagner added that the school would review security surveillance footage near where chalk markings were placed so that perpetrators may go through the conduct violation process, according to the Emory Wheel.

Shortly after the incident, several student groups sent out a petition demanding Trump support be recognized as hate speech.

Many see President Wagner’s email as a harmless appeasement of the protesters’ demands. However, one should not underestimate the kind of precedent his response sets.

While the chalkers may have violated some parts of the vague chalking policy, the remedy for these violations is stated to be a clean-up fee, not a conduct hearing.

Additionally, the president’s statements seem to implicitly contradict support of free speech on campus. Conceding to campus loud-mouths is not a way to have respectful dialogue. Appeasing this kind of intimidation threatens to grant speech control to whoever speaks the loudest or throws the biggest tantrum.

Monday, March 28, 2016

Massachusetts colleges targeted by anti-Semitic fliers

No big mystery, I think. Just a Leftist student provocation, as these things usually are.

At least three Massachusetts colleges were targeted by hackers Thursday who sent anti-Semitic fliers through campus printers, in what appeared to be part of a coordinated attack on universities around the country, according to a civil rights group.

Among the schools hit by the hackers were the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Smith College, and Northeastern University in the Commonwealth, and Princeton University, Brown University, DePaul University, and the University of Southern California, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Hackers infiltrated the computer systems to send fliers that included swastikas and anti-Semitic text above a link to a website classified as a hate group.

Robert O. Trestan, the league’s New England regional director, said in a phone interview that hacking is a new tactic by anti-Semitic agitators, who have historically taped up fliers around campuses or placed them on cars in school parking lots.

“This is a bigger concern than traditional fliering, because there’s a breach of security, and it’s apparently a nationally coordinated attack to spread anti-Semitism,” Trestan said. “It’s always a concern when people are exposed to hate material and lies about other groups.”

Trestan said the Anti-Defamation League has spoken with law enforcement about the hacking and that there is no indication of any public safety threats to Massachusetts students. He said it is not clear who sent the fliers.

Backlash against a plan to remove prominent Confederate monuments in New Orleans has been tinged by death threats, intimidation, and even what may have been the torching of a contractor’s Lamborghini.

For now, at least, things have gotten so nasty the city hasn’t found a contractor willing to bear the risk of tearing down the monuments.

The city doesn’t have its own equipment to move them and is now in talks to find a company, even discussing doing the work at night to avoid further tumult. Further complicating the issue was a court ruling Friday that effectively put the removal on hold.

Initially, it appeared the monuments would be removed quickly after the majority black City Council on Dec. 17 voted, 6-1, to approve the mayor’s plan to take them down. The monuments, including towering statues of generals Robert E. Lee and P.G.T. Beauregard, have long been viewed by many here as symbols of racism and white supremacy.

New Orleans is a majority African-American city although the number of black residents has fallen since 2005’s Hurricane Katrina drove away many people. Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who proposed the monuments’ removal, rode to victory twice with overwhelming support from the city’s black residents.

In New Orleans, things have turned particularly ugly.

In early January, as it beat back legal challenges seeking to stop the removal, the city hired a contractor to remove the monuments.

But H&O Investments LLC of Baton Rouge soon pulled out of the job, citing death threats, ‘‘unkindly name-calling,’’ outrage on social media, and the threat of other businesses canceling contracts.

One day, several protesters came while H&O workers took measurements. Some of the protesters wore materials ‘‘with affiliation to white supremacy groups,’’ said Roy Maughan Jr., a lawyer for the contractor.

That same day, Maughan said, ‘‘a specific articulated threat’’ was phoned into city authorities warning workers at the monuments to leave for their safety. On Jan. 12, H&O sent the city a letter saying it was dropping out. Then, on Jan. 19, a Lamborghini belonging to the owner of H&O Investments was set on fire. The sports car was parked outside his office near Baton Rouge, Maughan said.

The FBI and local fire investigators declined to comment. No arrests have been made.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

A pregnant Australian woman has been jailed in Singapore for inciting “vitriol and hatred” against foreigners in Singapore.

23-year-old Ai Takagi is the woman behind the popular blog The Real Singapore, which was shut down last year.

Under Singapore’s sedition laws it is an offence to promote hostility between different races or classes in the multiracial society, which is mainly ethnic Chinese with large Malay and Indian minorities.

But critics say sedition laws, which date back to the British colonial era, can be used to clamp down on free speech

Prosecutors said that Takagi made up stories to garner hundreds of thousands of dollars in online advertising.

District Judge Salina Ishak said a strong sentence was needed because Takagi was inciting “vitriol and hatred” against all foreigners in Singapore.

Takagi, who is eight weeks pregnant with her first child, read an apology in court before the sentence was handed down.

“Before this case started, I was not fully aware of the level of sensitivity needed when dealing with topics related to racial and religious issues in Singapore,” she said in court.

Aldi forced to change paint named 'rape yellow' (after the plant) after complaints from a sex assault victim

Canola is a type of rape plant. It produces very oily seeds

Supermarket giant Aldi is set to change the name of its 'rape yellow' paint tins following an angry outburst from a sex assault victim.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, branded the product name 'offensive' after she spotted the tins while she was shopping with her son.

The furious customer said she started 'choking' when she came across the product at the Radford Road store in Coventry, Warwickshire.

Although the online tubs are listed as 'rapeseed yellow' - in reference to the brightly-coloured plant that begins to flower during spring - the in-store tins are plastered with the label 'rape yellow'.

Now Aldi have agreed to scrap the name - but only after explaining it was in reference to the bright-yellow seed.

A statement said: 'This paint is a colour widely referred to in the industry as 'RAL 1021 Rape Yellow', which refers to rapeseed.

Friday, March 25, 2016

In Academe, Should Anti-Semitism Be a Fireable Offense?

There is certainly a double standard here. But it is probably because Karega is black. The college needs her to get their racial quotas up. But otherwise she should certainly be fired -- not on speech grounds but for incompetence as a scholar

Lately it seems like all anyone’s Jewish grandparents talk about these days is the pervasive anti-Israel sentiment found on college campuses in the U.S. In actuality, however, I’ve found that the silent majority actually doesn’t care that much either way. So while BDS campaigns and solidarity activism between pro-Palestinian and other leftist groups aren’t “fun” for students who choose to cultivate political views more nuanced than those of an eggplant, they also aren’t threatening to us, whether we agree with them or not. And I go to Columbia.

Occasionally, though, the discourse can descends from legitimate to dangerous. I’m talking about flat-out, no-holds-barred, in-your-face anti-Semitism. And when that monster rears its head, I’m left scratching my own.

Recently, Joy Karega, a rhetoric and composition professor at Oberlin College, was revealed to have posted wildly anti-Semitic and anti-Israel content, often in the form of conspiracy theories, on her personal Facebook page. According to Karega, the Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency, was the true mastermind of last year’s Charlie Hebdo massacre; ISIS is the product of a CIA-Mossad collaboration; the IDF shot down that Malaysian airliner over Ukraine; and Jews were behind the attacks on 9/11.

Karega’s views are vile and racist. And yet she is still employed, still teaching.

In response to calls for her dismissal, Oberlin president Marvin Krislov—a self-described “practicing Jew” and “grandson of an Orthodox rabbi” whose family members “were murdered in the Holocaust”—defended Karega. In an email to Oberlin’s student body, Krislov wrote that even though he understands Karega’s views “cause[d] pain for many people—members of our community and beyond,” she would be keeping her position because of her right to express “personal views.”

When I read Krislov’s comments, I thought maybe I wasn’t seeing clearly. The fact that her anti-Semitism isn’t seen as grounds for firing her—when other professors at other universities who’ve engaged in similar, if much less deliberate, prejudices or offenses against other minority groups are dismissed immediately—speaks volumes to the double standard to which Jewish students are held.

IT is completely outrageous that a UK PR agent, Matthew Doyle, has been arrested on the suspicion of inciting racial hatred for asking a Muslim woman to “explain Brussels”.

It’s a ridiculous question. However, Doyle did not hit her, threaten her or abuse her. He didn’t incite violence against her. He simply asked a question many people are asking around the world today: Why did so many innocent people die in yet another violent extremist terrorist attack?

Doyle’s encounter came to the attention of authorities because he tweeted about it: “I confronted a Muslim women (sic) yesterday in Croydon. I asked her to explain Brussels. She said ‘Nothing to do with me’. A mealy mouthed reply,” he wrote.

People should not have the right to incite or encourage violence or abuse against others on the basis of race, but they should be able to express a fair opinion without being arrested.

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Zara has pulled a T-shirt with a gluten-free slogan from its shelves after sparking a backlash amongst its customers

Some problems may not be mentioned, apparently. Going gluten free has become something of a fad among perfectly healthy people and the T-shirt was most probably intended as a comment on that. I remember one period when I had a very on-off relstionship with a nice lady. During one of our "off" periods, she discovered she was allergic to gluten. When we got back together, however, her allergy vanished! She was just unhappy. I still think well of her

Marta Casadesus, from Terrassa, Spain, started a petition to have the T-shirt removed, which amassed 53,000 signatures, and Zara apologised for any offence caused.

She posted: 'Coeliac disease is not a fad, nor is it a disease to take it in jest, because of the strictness of the diet that must be followed, gluten-free, and the problems it can cause if it is not done properly.

'The message of this shirt trivialises an important health problem, which affects more people and should be considered whenever the intolerant person - gluten, in this case - is eating out, for example.

However Mollie Sheppard, who suffers with coeliac disease, said she wanted to get hold of the T-shirt to wear as a badge of honour.

Zara's parent company Inditex posted a response on the Change petition. It said the shirt has been removed online and is being removed in stores.

A spokesperson said: 'We sincerely regret that this case can be interpreted as a trivialization of coeliac problem completely opposite intention of Inditex.

It's just a jokey advertisement from a picture-framing business but a sense of humour seems to be a rare thing these days

It was intended to be a light-hearted joke about marriage and mothers-in-law. But an Australian picture frame service's slogan stating 'We can shoot your wife and frame your mother-in-law. If you want we can hang them too' has been banned.

The Advertising Standards Bureau ruled that Fantastic Framing's advert was 'not funny' and breached standards because of the way it portrayed violence.

A number of complaints were made about the Sydney-based service by people who found the advert 'sexist and violent'.

But Fantastic Framing said they were 'surprised' about the backlash because so many of their customers had said it was 'funny' and 'smart'. 'We are very surprised to get this email but more than happy to help and explain it,' the service said, according to documents.

'The reaction we get from our customers that it is very funny and it is relating to marriage and picture frames. Lots of people came to us and said 'Funny we like it ... very smart.

'There is no bad intention for this advertising it is purely a joke which relate to marriage and picture frames.'

The advertising bureau noted that the slogan was 'clearly intended to be a humorous play on words'.

But it found that the 'intended humour has worn off' because of the high level of community concern about violence towards women.

'The majority of the Board acknowledged that the advertiser's intent was to inject humour in to their advertising but considered that making a joke about using a gun or hanging a person would not be found funny by most members of the community,' the ruling stated.

Comedian Austen Tayshus told the Daily Telegraph that it was political correctness gone mad.

'Whenever you use irony, satire, anything like that, you always depend on whether people have the capacity to understand that. Unfortunately people are stupid,' he said.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Last month, Facebook censored a woman for criticizing gender-neutral locker rooms on her page, “Keep Locker Rooms Safe.” Now, the social media site has decided to shut her page down completely.

Autumn Bennett, the administrator of the page advocating for safety and privacy in locker rooms through sex-assigned bathrooms, told The Daily Wire the threats she has been receiving since the incident have gotten increasingly more aggressive.

Trans activists have formed their own fake “Keep Locker Rooms Safe” Facebook pages in opposition to her group, mocking the group’s cause and harassing administrators.

One activist even posted a call to action for activists to investigate Bennett’s personal information, such as where she works.

Bennett and her colleagues decided to publicize the insults and threats from opposing activists by creating an album on their page filled with screenshots of the language that was used against her group, including phrases such as “Go f*** yourself” and “I hope your teeth fall out.”

Although Bennett and her colleagues reported the aggressive language used against her group, Facebook responded by shutting their page down for having publicized what was being said to them.

Bennett said all of the other moderators of her page were banned from Facebook for 24 hours, while she and Kaeley Triller Haver, another page manager, were banned for 72 hours because of the image posted above.

Several trans activists bragged for having been the reason for Facebook’s censorship of Bennett and her colleagues.

The group’s victory was short lived, since Bennett and her colleagues immediately created a new page for their organization called “Keep Locker Rooms Safe and Sex Specific.”

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Fabricated hate speech

Political rhetoric should never be blamed for violent actions. But if we are going to deflect blame from violent protesters to the rhetoric which supposedly caused their protest, let's take a look at which side actually incites violence with their provocative rhetoric.

Right-wing "hate speech" is so non-existent that it is apparently only delivered through alleged "dog whistles." The innuendo so subtle that only liberal politicians and pundits with the keenest senses and superior intelligence can understand it. It is then the civic duty of these code-breakers to decipher and interpret the "real" message and relay it to us common folks. We know you heard the Republican candidate say he wants to lower the capital gains tax to create incentive for investment. But what he really meant was that he hates black people, right?.

Hate speech from the right is only that which is twisted, spun or completely fabricated by the left. And it is that rhetoric which has created a hostile environment around American politics today. False accusations of hate speech can be one the worst forms of hate speech itself. And Democratic politicians don't use dog whistles to articulate their hateful message. They use screeching megaphones turned up to eleven.

Radical leftist protesters do not view themselves as the violent, ignorant, hate-filled mob that they are. They see themselves as social justice warriors participating in a truly noble cause. And their actions are insufficiently condemned - if not celebrated - by Dem politicians. In a shameful display, even some GOP candidates recently placed the blame for the protest that took place in Chicago on the rhetoric of Donald Trump rather than the unruly mob itself.

Who knew it would take Donald Trump to bring violence to Chicago? How many people were murdered on Chicago's south side while Trump's plane awaited takeoff? But that's not a major concern of Democratic politicians. Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders accused Donald Trump of inciting the anger that was on display in Chicago last week. But what about their own antagonistic rhetoric?

Bernie Sanders, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, constantly calls for a "political revolution." While Bernie should not be blamed for the violence committed by his followers, radical left-wing lunatics and political revolutions are not a good combination. Historically, how many political revolutions have been peaceful in nature? Could Bernie's constant call for a revolution not potentially incite violence? When Hillary Clinton talks about the "constant stories of young men who have been killed by police officers" and "systemic racism in our criminal justice system," is she not giving credence and legitimacy to radical groups like "Black Lives Matter"?

Politically-motivated violence and hate speech are almost exclusively reserved for the left. There are virtually no instances of violence or destruction at conservative events unless left-wing protesters are in attendance. Contrast that with the complete chaos and destructive nature of nearly every major left-wing protest that has taken place in recent history. As the last attendees of a Tea Party rally walk the grounds to make sure every last gum wrapper has been discarded, "Occupy", "Black Lives Matter" and nearly all radical left-wing activists leave a destructive path of shattered glass, bloodied bodies, overturned cars and burning buildings.

Even the most hate filled rhetoric should not incite normal people to commit acts of violence. But radical left-wing activists are not normal people. And there is no doubt that the rhetoric by those on the left have stoked the anger that is already present in these mindless, violent agitators.

But rather than condemn the rhetoric, we must start to condemn the actions and only the actions. After all, even hate speech is free speech.

MICROSOFT’S management has been left red-faced and forced to apologise after the company hired scantily clad dancing school girls for a recent gaming event.

The raunchy entertainers were positioned on podiums around the venue and stood dancing for the crowd in nothing more than a bra and skirt. Far from having the desired effect, a number of attendees and others on social media voiced their anger at the inappropriateness of the entertainment.

The party was held late last week following a conference for video game developers put on by Microsoft’s Xbox division, but following a tsunami of criticism the company said it was “unequivocally wrong” to have hired the dancers.

The gaming industry has been plagued by a longstanding image that it is hostile towards women and this latest incident has done nothing to help that unflattering perception.

Monday, March 21, 2016

Another attempt to censor Trump

It's clear who the Fascists are. The Left clearly don't believe in democracy

Arizonians demonstrating against Republican candidate Donald Trump's scheduled appearance in a Phoenix suburb used cars to block the road into the event Saturday, as thousands of New Yorkers protested against the Republican candidate in his hometown.

A gay Central Michigan University professor has pleaded guilty for falsely claiming that a random guy at a Toby Keith concert called her a “cross-dressing fag,” punched her in the face and spat on her.

The professor, Mari Poindexter, had alleged that the man approached her at the Aug. 19 concert at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mount Pleasant, Mich., reports The Morning Sun, a local newspaper.

The man began hurling a rich tapestry of obscene slurs at Poindexter, she told police.

Later that night, the professor said, the same man ambushed her in the parking lot of The Cabin — a local bar. The man thumped Poindexter in the eye, she said, and spat on her.

Poindexter, who announced her lesbianism three years ago and has since been passionate about it, later posted a Facebook photo of herself with an impressive black eye and a corresponding story of indignant outrage. That post went viral and was reported by several news outlets.

Much pity ensued. “We’re proud of you, Mari, for taking a stand,” taxpayer-funded Central Michigan University officials wrote on the school’s Facebook page. “CMU stands with you.”

Turns out, Poindexter got the shiner because she “punched herself in the eye,” according to local police.

Poindexter’s story began to unravel when police probed the incident. Investigators sat down with her to review security footage from the bar to identify the man, court documents say. Then, when the investigators informed Poindexter that there was also surveillance footage of the parking lot, she became anxious. She said she was no longer interested in viewing any video which might incriminate her assailant.

Poindexter made up the story and cold-cocked herself in her own right eye “because she wanted to raise awareness about the social hardships of people in the LGBTQ+ community,” according to court documents.

Poindexter, who taught business information systems courses at Central Michigan, is currently on leave from the school.

Officials at Central Michigan continue to support her.

The tall tale Poindexter told is the latest in a long series of hate crime hoaxes perpetrated by gay people.

Sunday, March 20, 2016

In recent months, a string of media outlets, celebrities and politicians, including talk-show host Glenn Beck and Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto, have lined up to call Trump the next Hitler.

The billionaire real estate mogul’s unapologetic threats to deport illegal immigrants and put a halt on Muslims entering the US have caused outrage.

Trump this week scored primary victories in three more states, including Florida, forcing rival candidate Marco Rubio to drop out and further increasing his chances of taking the nomination.

It came as Dilbert creator Scott Adams warned that constant comparisons of Trump to Hitler in the media were helping incite violence against the candidate and his supporters and "priming the public to try to kill Trump".

Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC), said "once again we see celebrities using appalling comparisons to Hitler to attack others".

"There is simply no place for this kind of sickening distortion in our public discourse," he said.

While people were entitled to "strong opinions" on Donald Trump, "Hitler and his genocidal actions should never form part of the discussion about the American presidential elections and no candidate should ever be compared to Hitler", Dr Abramovich said.

Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg also criticised the comparisons. "Donald Trump has his detractors, and many for good reason, but to compare him with the evil Adolf Hitler responsible as he was for the deaths of millions of innocents is ridiculous in the extreme," he told news.com.au. "It diminishes the Holocaust and a shameful chapter in the history of the world."

Dr Abramovich said the six million Jews and millions of others who perished at the hands of the Third Reich "deserve better and should not be used for political point sloganeering".

It was enlightening to see Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., again reveal his inner fascist the other day, imploring the U.S. attorney general to prosecute anyone with a contrary opinion on global warming (forgive me, "climate change"). He thus shows himself to be no different than the snowflakes on our campuses who cannot abide free speech, or the Occupy Wall Street types who want to prevent the execrable Donald Trump from mouthing his imbecilities.

One wonders what Mr. Whitehouse doesn't get about the First Amendment. What he proposes would make Pravda proud.

He should be careful what he wishes for. A Justice Department prosecution might require an exploration of both sides of the global warming debate, and could expose it for the fraud that it is. Then, Whitehouse would no longer be able to waste billions of our money on the Solyndras of the world, or have the rest of us help pay for Teslas for the wealthy.

Friday, March 18, 2016

Mass.: Catholic Memorial students chant anti-Jewish taunt at game

It seems that the Catholic students felt they were accused of being homosexual. Many males find the whole idea of homosexuality repellent, though they are not allowed to say so these days. That abhorrence is why homosexuality was banned for many years. So the Catholic students were understandably upset and struck back with the most hurtful reply they could think of. So I don't think the Jewish students can complain too much. They started the descent into offensiveness

The chanting started with a rude taunt: Newton North High School students cheering for their basketball team Friday night shouted, “Where are your girls?” to the fans of Catholic Memorial School, an all-boys school.

But the response from the Catholic Memorial fans to their opponents, many of whom are Jewish, left the Newton North crowd horrified and upset: “You killed Jesus!” shouted about 50 to 75 Catholic Memorial students. “You killed Jesus!”

The Newton North students fell silent, their faces registering surprise and anger.

“I found it chilling,” said Newton Superintendent David Fleishman, who arrived at the game, which was held at Newton South High School, about 20 minutes later. Fleishman said he was immediately approached by a visibly upset parent who told him she was shaken. “In my mind, this is incredibly upsetting and troubling, and they have a lot of work to do at Catholic Memorial,” Fleishman said.

The president of Catholic Memorial issued a statement Saturday condemning the “abhorrent behavior” of the students and promising to work to end it.

As soon as the Catholic Memorial students began their chant, said Fleishman, the interim principal spoke with Catholic Memorial administrators, who put an immediate stop to it. Both Fleishman and Folan said the students were reprimanded

A Swedish fake tan firm has sparked outrage with their extremely dark colour which users have branded 'blackface.'

Emmaatan, founded by Emma Patissier Alm, is facing a backlash for its £50 a bottle range, which includes shades like Dark Chocolate and Onyx.

Emma posted a defence on Instagram where he claimed the 'colour isn't going for black' but commenters found the colours and their names in bad taste and argued you 'can't "wear" a race.'

Emma defended the dark shades on the company's Instagram which has 19,000 followers and explained it was a small business which she set up two years ago.

She wrote: 'I'm in shock for the response I've gotten and may have responded and commented the wrong way because I expect people to know how spray tan works.

'I've got a lot of feedback and mostly been called "blackface" and racist.

'People looks at my pic I've posted and without a blink assume we desire to look black, I understand why it might seem that way and I apologise for the misunderstanding my pic may have approached.

'Tanning is very popular these days because of the cancer factor, everybody is talking about how dangerous the sun bed is and therefore looking for a healthier option.

Emma wrote: 'My color isn't going for black, it's going for a natural golden tan when you wash it off. I never want my customers to look unnatural or too dark since we usually have a lighter skin tone.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Viewers hit out at the BBC accusing bosses of favouritism based on where presenters sit on its Breakfast show.

Dan Walker, 38, joined the 'more experienced' Louise Minchin on the sofa at the end of last month and has been sitting in 'camera left' position.

It is the same spot as his predecessor Bill Turnbull, who left after 15 years, and is often seen in the industry as a position of seniority.

And disgruntled viewers spoke of their anger at what they believe is a snub to Minchin.

Adele Clarke, from Cheshire, wrote to the Radio Times saying: 'I was annoyed to see 'new boy' Dan Walker seated on the left, in Bill Turnbull's own place, while far more experienced news presenter Louise Minchin remained in the 'number two' position on the right.

'How long will it take the BBC (and most other news stations) to catch up with the rest of us in the 21st century? Be brave – try seating a woman on the left and see how the world will keep turning.'

A high school a few miles up river from New York City stripped all instances of the swastika in its production of “The Producers,” a musical that follows the exploits of two dishonest Broadway producers who try to put on the world’s worst play, “Springtime for Hitler.” In doing so, the work mocks Nazism.

It’s difficult to get that point across if the swastika is scrubbed from the stage. But Bob Pritchard, superintendent for South Orangetown, told the local news the symbol under any circumstance was inappropriate.

A performer in the school’s play, who identified himself as a Jew, didn’t see a problem with the symbolism. “It’s satire, not supposed to be taken seriously,” he said.

“Contrary to what the district thinks, context does matter,” wrote Reason’s Robby Soave. “If a swastika appears on a Jewish student’s locker, it’s a hate crime. If it appears in a history textbook, it’s not. The danger comes when authority figures try to shelter kids from offensive ideas and symbols. It’s better to let them behold the swastika, and laugh at it, then live in fear of it.”

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Given the way Muslim immigrants have been behaving towards women in Germany lately, what Bachman said seems only too true

The founder of Germany's xenophobic and anti-Islam group PEGIDA has been summoned to court on hate speech charges for describing refugees as "cattle" and "scum", a court in Dresden said.

Lutz Bachmann, 43, was charged with inciting hatred in October for a series of widely shared posts on the PEGIDA Facebook page, which stands for "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident".

A court date has been set for April, with two further hearings in May.

The court said Bachmann's comments "disrupted public order" and constituted an "attack on (the refugees') dignity".

The Reform movement harshly criticized Donald Trump’s “hate speech,” but backed AIPAC’s invitation of the Republican frontrunner to speak at its annual conference.

Reacting to Trump’s acceptance of the invitation on Friday, the Union for Reform Judaism and the Central Conference of American Rabbis on Monday called his campaign bigoted.

“His campaign has been replete with naked appeals to bigotry, especially against Hispanics and Muslims. Previous comments he has made – and not disavowed – have been offensive to women, people of color, and other groups. In recent days, increasingly, he appears to have gone out of his way to encourage violence at his campaign events. At every turn, Mr. Trump has chosen to take the low road, sowing seeds of hatred and division in our body politic,” the movement said in a statement.

The movement went on to compare Trump’s comments about American ethnic and religious groups to past treatment of Jews.

At the same time, the Union for Reform Judaism and the Central Conference of American Rabbis expressed understanding and support for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s decision.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

A comedian is on trial in Canada for telling a cruel joke

It is a truism that humour is wholly subjective. When it comes to comedy criticism, the phrase ‘that’s not funny’ is about as productive as ‘that’s not erotic’. But this hasn’t stopped the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) from extending its remit into the policing of jokes. Set up by the Canadian parliament in 1977 to address allegations of discrimination in employment and the provision of services, this body now seeks to criminalise bad taste.

Two weeks ago, stand-up comedian Mike Ward testified at a CHRC tribunal for telling a joke in 2012 about Jérémy Gabriel, a young man suffering from a disfiguring condition known as Treacher Collins syndrome. The joke concerned the attention Gabriel had received after being invited to sing for Pope Benedict in 2006. ‘But now, five years later, and he’s still not dead’, Ward said. ‘Me, I defended him, like an idiot, and he won’t die.’Mike Ward is a star of the comedy circuit in French-speaking Canada. He is the headliner at The Nasty Show at this year’s Just For Laughs festival in Montreal, and is known for his near-the-knuckle brand of humour. The festival website bills him as ‘the Celine Dion of dick jokes’. His audience, in other words, knows exactly what to expect.

Opposition to Ward’s joke seems to be based on the premise that comedy must always be ‘punching up’ rather than ‘punching down’. Will Self articulated this very point during an interview on Channel 4 News after the Charlie Hebdo massacre. ‘You always have to ask with something that purports to be satire, who’s it attacking?’, he said. ‘Are they people who are in a position of power?’ Self failed to acknowledge that Charlie Hebdo’s target has never been the Muslim minority. The target was God, and you can’t punch much higher than that.

In any case, cruelty can sometimes be funny. This is something we all know, but many of us are loath to admit. The novelist Simon Raven once received a telegram from his wife which read: ‘Wife and baby starving send money soonest.’ He replied: ‘Sorry no money suggest eat baby.’ When I first read this, I laughed. Should I be troubled by this involuntary reaction? Do I subconsciously approve of infanticide and cannibalism? If so, I should probably make a disclosure the next time a friend asks me to babysit.

More likely, it suggests that I don’t automatically take jokes at face value, an ability clearly lacking in Ward’s critics. However ill-judged you might find his subject matter, surely we can all agree that he doesn’t actually wish for Jérémy Gabriel to die? In the absence of contrary evidence, we should assume a basic level of humanity.

Illinois man Dennis Murdy created quite the controversy in his neighborhood when he recently erected two silhouette cutouts on his lawn that depicted a turban-wearing jihadi terrorist surrendering to an armed hunter.

According to WKTV, when Muslims in Murdy’s community found out about his lawn display, they threw quite a fit.

“Free speech should not be mixed with hate speech,” argued Imam Kamil Mufti from the Islamic Foundation of Peoria. “It’s extremely important and we have to draw that line.”

Mufti added that most Muslims do not wear a Turban. It is in fact Sikhs who typically wear this piece of garment. (Which kind of makes you wonder what he’s upset about, then.)

In explaining why he put up the display in the first place, Murdy pointed to his concerns about Islam.

“The Muslims and Islam is one of the most violent cults there is,” he opined. “It is not a religion. It’s a cult. Their Quran says nothing but violence.”

Murdy did acknowledge the existence of peaceful Muslims, though he pinned some of the blame for radical Islamic terrorism on them, arguing that they should do more to stop it.

“That was intended to show my feelings on what’s happening to our country and other parts of the country,” he concluded.

Banning words used by pro-eating disorder or pro-ED communities in Instagram backfired. A new Georgia Tech study found that Instagram users eventually invented new but similar words after the ban in 2012, turning “thighgap” into “thygap” or “thightgap,” just to name a few.

Additionally, the censorship even increased the support for these pro-ED Instagram groups. In spite of Instagram’s efforts to control the expression of these unhealthy behaviours, the number of supporters of anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders still increased by up to 30 percent.

“Likes and comments on these new tags were 15 to 30 percent higher compared to the originals,” notes Munmun De Choudury, an assistant professor at Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing. “Before the ban, a person searching for hashtags would only find their intended word. Now a search produces dozens of similar, non-censored pro-ED terms. That means more content to view and engage with.”

Previously, some of the hashtags they used were “thighgap,” “thinspiration” and “secretsociety.” These users stopped using these as soon as the ban was enacted, and they tweaked the spelling of words like “‘thinspiration’ with “thynspiration” or “thynspo,” “thighgap” with “thightgap” or “thygap.”

The other 17 terms also turned into hundreds of new words, with 40 variables each term on the average. The term “thighgap” even turned into 107 new but similar words.

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Leftist thugs succeed in censoring Trump

A campaign rally of US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump scheduled for Friday night (local time) in Chicago has been postponed for safety reasons due to widespread protests, a Trump campaign staffer said.

Outside the rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago, protesters chanted "Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Donald Trump has got to go."

A few Trump backers lashed back at demonstrators, shouting, "Build the wall!" a reference to Trump's pledge build a wall on the Mexican border — and have Mexico pay for it.

While emotions ran high outside the UIC Pavilion where Trump was slated to speak, a phalanx of Chicago police officers ensured that Trump fans and foes were kept on opposite sides of the street to keep the war of words from escalating into something worse.

The situation was so tense officials announced shortly after 4:30pm the rally was cancelled.

Thousands had turned out to see Trump, while an estimated 500 protesters were on hand.

The event was cancelled after protesters packed into the arena where it was to take place.

Christian magistrate is sacked after claiming adopted children were better off with a man and a woman as parents than with a gay couple

Magistrate Richard Page, 68, was sacked after 15 years at Maidstone and Sevenoaks courts, in Kent, after objecting to a gay couple adopting a child live on air.

The Judiciary Conduct Investigations Office confirmed that the father-of-three has been removed from the magistracy as a district judge.

They said that the grounds for his dismissal result from comments made on national television which a reasonable person would conclude he is bias against single sex adopters.

He was recorded saying: 'My responsibility as a magistrate, as I saw it, was to do what I considered best for the child, and my feeling was therefore that it would be better if it was a man and woman who were the adopted parents.'

A spokesman for the JCIO said: 'The Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice found that Mr Page's comments on national television would have caused a reasonable person to conclude he was biased and prejudiced against single sex adopters; they considered this to be serious misconduct which brought the magistracy into disrepute.

'They have therefore removed Mr Page from the magistracy.

It is believed Mr Page had less than a month to run as a Justice of the Peace.

Friday, March 11, 2016

Another attempt to erase history

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A preservation board has approved the removal of racially insensitive artwork from a 111-year-old publicly owned carousel in western New York.

The Rochester Preservation Board unanimously voted Wednesday to remove the image from the Dentzel Carousel located at Ontario Beach Park. One of the carousel's 18 painted panels depicts two black children in a crude, exaggerated style common to the Jim Crow era.

Activists have been pushing city officials to remove the offensive image from the carousel, which is owned by the city but managed and operated by Monroe County.

Rochester officials had said any changes to the carousel would have to be approved by the city's preservation board.

Officials say the Rochester Museum and Science Center will remove the panel and ensure that it's properly preserved.

Australia's immigration minister Wednesday faced calls to apologise after his department chief used "allegedly" to describe experiences in Nazi Germany during a defence of the government's hardline asylum-seeker policies.

Canberra's tough measures against boatpeople - which involves detaining them in remote Pacific island camps indefinitely while their refugee applications are processed -- have attracted strong domestic and international criticism from rights groups.

Doctors and whistleblowers have also said the detention of asylum-seekers, particularly children, has left some struggling with mental health problems.

A statement by immigration department head Michael Pezzullo, meant to counter a Sydney psychiatrist's criticism of the policies in the Australasian Psychiatry journal, drew fire when he used the term "allegedly" to describe experiences under Nazi rule in Germany.

"Recent comparisons of immigration detention centres to 'gulags'; suggestions that detention involves a 'public numbing and indifference' similar to that allegedly experienced in Nazi Germany; and persistent suggestions that detention facilities are places of 'torture' are highly offensive, unwarranted and plainly wrong -- and yet they continue to be made in some quarters," said the statement released Tuesday.

After a backlash on social media, the immigration department issued a follow-up statement saying "any insinuation the department denies the atrocities committed in Nazi Germany are both ridiculous and baseless".

It also accused critics of distorting the text to "create controversy".

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Should political lies be prosecuted as libel?

The Israeli writer below is unthinking. He says "Hate Speech Is Not Free Speech". But it is. If we allow that hate speech can be banned, anything you disagree with can be banned. It is the ultimate slippery slope.

A more sophisticated writer might have argued that political lies should be prosecuted, as Donald Trump argues. Lies are are an essential feature of libel and libel has never been protected speech. And the words deplored below are clearly libel. The Israeli government could well launch a lawsuit claiming that Israel has been libelled by the lies concerned.

University professors enjoy the benefits of academic freedom and free speech. These cherished concepts are essential ingredients in the unhindered exchange and flow of ideas.

Joy Karega, a non-tenured assistant professor of rhetoric and composition at Oberlin College, a liberal arts institution in the state of Ohio, made an utter mockery of these hallowed principles by spewing out a toxic torrent of antisemitic screeds on her Facebook page.

Let’s be absolutely clear.

These rants could have been written by a neo-Nazi foaming at the mouth. They certainly have no place in civilized discourse. That they were posted by a woman of color is surprising and disappointing. African Americans, having been the victims of prejudice and violence, should be aware that racism is a malignancy that undermines and demeans society at large.

Has Karega fallen under the baneful influence of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan?

With her eyes wide open, she crossed a dangerous line and entered the realm of antisemitic incitement. Not for a second can she claim that her vile and ignorant comments are protected by the sanctity of the First Amendment.

She should be severely reprimanded, if not punished.

In a series of posts in the past few years, which she has since taken down, Karega issued a litany of baseless and absurd accusations.

She claimed that Israel was behind the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States and the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris in 2015. These are the kind of accusations that come from the filthy mouths of antisemites and Islamic radicals, who have a lot in common.

The Public Prosecutor released the indictment in the hate speech trial against PVV leader Geert Wilders on Tuesday. The PVV leader is officially charged with four “variants” of two hate speech offenses, NOS reports.

Wilders is facing charges of firstly deliberately insulting a group of people because of their race. Secondly, inciting hatred or discrimination against these people. The Prosecutor is accusing Wilders with four variants of each of these offenses – complicity, commit, incitement and “doing it complicity”.

By charging Wilders with each possible variant of the offenses, it seems that the Public Prosecutor is trying to avoid the trial being prematurely stranded by Wilders’ lawyer arguing that the offenses are not properly named in the indictment, according to NOS. “The Public Prosecutor has an opinion on this, but it may be that the court sees it differently and therefore we included different variants in the indictment”, a spokesperson said to the broadcaster.

The lawsuits revolves around statements Wilders made during campaign visits to The Hague in March 2014. On March 12th of that year the PVV leader paid a visit to Loosduinen and said that The Hague should be “a city with fewer burdens and if possible fewer Moroccans”. And then on the eve of the municipal elections, Wilders asked a cafe full of people whether they wanted more or fewer Moroccans, to which they chanted “fewer, fewer, fewer”.

Wilders’ lawyer Geert Jan Knoops is holding his comments on the indictment for the first hearing in the process next week.

The PVV leader responded on Twitter: “No one will silence me. Also not about Moroccans. Not terrorist threats, not prosecutor with nonsense indictments, not judge. Nobody.”

Wednesday, March 09, 2016

Puar’s talk in January was titled “Inhumanist Biopolitics: How Palestine Matters.” Puar, associate professor of Women’s & Gender Studies at Rutgers University, has been busy telling lies, presenting a version of this lecture at venues ranging from Poughkeepsie, NY, to Santa Barbara, Calif.

Her incendiary, unbalanced hate speech masquerades as scholarship. In typical post-colonialist rhetoric, she ignores the facts and twists reality to promote a spurious agenda. Let me give you a taste of her slanderous distortions and demonizing lies about Israel.

With no documentation or specific evidence, Puar asserted that Israel’s ultimate goals are ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, stealing of Palestinian land, and entrenchment and expansion of suffocating Israeli power. Israel’s “settler occupation” (her term), which she calls the “second Nakba” (“catastrophe” in Arabic), is all about using “asphyxiating,” “biopolitical” control over body and environment to suppress the Palestinian people. To this end, she claims Israel uses scientifically executed “maiming” and “stunting.”

“Maiming” means shooting to intentionally cripple, shattering knees, and hitting vital organs (an obvious contradiction) to minimize death statistics and ensure that Palestinian workers can be profitable without threatening the occupier.

“Stunting” is used to permanently debilitate and disable the Palestinians. This is achieved through population poisoning with uranium, lead, and phosphorus, as well as “calorie starvation” in children. Through Israel’s actions, Puar claimed, it is creating physical, psychological, and cognitive injuries by controlling infrastructure, water, electricity, and land; restricting mobility; and limiting telecommunications. She alleges that 95 percent of Palestinians are permanently disabled.

I wanted to let you know that our FrackNation Facebook page has been attacked by activists leading to two posts being removed and the page being locked for 24 hours.

As you know I've been covering the Dimock Water Trial that is finally revealing the truth about this scam - where two families are claiming an oil and gas company have polluted their water. Well - their case is collapsing because they have no evidence and in fact the evidence is emerging that the case is nothing but an anti-fracking multi-million dollar bogus lawsuit.

I've been the only reporter to be in the courtroom all through the trial and revealing, on the FrackNation Facebook page, the ludicrous lies at the heart of this case. This has infuriated anti-fracking activists who have started up a concerted campaign flagging up my posts as "inappropriate".

This has led Facebook to delete two damning posts that shows the fraud at the heart of the lawsuit but most damagingly of all it has led to Facebook suspending the account for 24 hours over the weekend. This meant I was prevented from posting onto the page so you could not learn more about the case.

This is serious - there is so much that needs to be known about this case that has only emerged under oath in the courtroom.

I've reported on the parent who alleged the gas company poisoned his children but never bothered to take them to the doctor (but did find time to take them to the media and trial lawyers for a lucrative lawsuit).

I've also revealed how Dr Tony Ingraffea - the favorite scientist of the anti-fracking movement - was caught lying about not being an activist and was forced to admit under oath that he had no proof that Dimock's water was polluted by fracking. Watch him run and hide behind a woman as I ask some tough questions.

And even better I was able to report that the plaintiffs' own lawyer admitted they had "no scientific evidence" that fracking fluids had ever polluted Dimock's water.

This is why they have tried to shut down the FrackNation page and this is why I need your help. I need you to go to the page and like and share every post about the Dimock water trial and then I need you to forward the links to all your friends so we build up a massive number of supporters for the page. This should help balance the organized attack by anti-fracking activists against the page.

If we don't fight back - they could succeed in having the page permanently suspended and prevent me from letting the world know the truth about fracking as the trial enters its final week.

So please go to the FrackNation page and like and share the posts about the trail. With your help the censorship stops here.

Tuesday, March 08, 2016

Black gangs are notorious but you must not associate blacks with gangs?

A group of roughly two dozen students walked out of Lowell High School in San Francisco Tuesday morning in response to an offensive sign posted on a window at the school’s library this month.

The sign, which was posted on Feb. 5, read “Happy Black History Month #Gang” along with photos the school’s principal said “were insensitive to the racial stereotyping of black people that is far too prevalent in our society.” The photos showed several hip-hop artists and other African American entertainers along with President Obama, according to the school.

While the message was removed, black students remained “outraged by the use of ‘#gang’ as it refers to black students and Black History Month negatively. In response to this clear anti-blackness, past incidents of racism and an uncomfortable climate for black students, the Black Student Union” scheduled the walkout — according to the student youth group Afrikan Black Coalition.

Just after 9 a.m., at least a couple dozen students emerged from the school and stood in line at the main entrance holding signs that said, “Black Minds Matter,” “Don’t Stereotype Us” and “We Are Young Black Scholars.” They later held a rally at City Hall.

I suspect that it is "slaves" in kinky sex that are being referred to, not Africans

As a fashion house, Dolce & Gabbana is known for its love of animal prints, its opposition to gay couples adopting children, and its staunch stance against surrogacy and in vitro fertilization.

Now, thanks to its upcoming 2016 spring collection, the brand might be able to add low-key racism to the list of things that influence its signature style. Earlier today, listings went up for a $2,395 piece of leather masquerading as a sandal adorned with tufts of cotton. Dolce & Gabbana called it their “Slave Sandal.”

“The Spring-Summer 2016 collection is a declaration of love to Italy, told through unique clothing and accessories on an imaginary journey through the wonders of this country,” Dolce & Gabbana’s website says of its new line. “Italia is Love.”

Italia may be love, but Italia (and Dolce & Gabbana by extension) has a pretty well-documented history of being culturally insensitive when it comes to brown people. Unsurprisingly, this isn’t the first time that D&G have dipped their toe into the shallow end of the racism pool. As The Cut points out, Dolce & Gabbana released a series of earrings last year that were styled after the kinds offensive blackamoor and mammy that are still all too commonly found in Italy.

Dolce & Gabbana’s updated site now calls the sandal a “Decorative Flat Sandal In Napa Leather With Pompoms,” but upscale resale sites that drew their descriptions directly from D&G still have the word “slave” embedded within their URLs.

Monday, March 07, 2016

A statue of Jesus dubbed “Big Mountain Jesus,” which stands on a Montana ski slope as a World War II Memorial, is now safe from removal attempts by the atheist group, The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), which claims that the statue’s presence on federal land violates the First Amendment.

The monument was erected by the Knights of Columbus in 1954 on Montana land with a permit from the U.S. Forest Service. World War II veterans who were also members of the Knights of Columbus commissioned the statue in memory of their fallen comrades, and to remind themselves of religious shrines they saw in Europe.

The statue has stood on Big Mountain near Whitefish Mountain Resort for 60 years.

The FFRF, a Wisconsin group, sued in 2012 on behalf of their members in Montana, arguing that the statue’s presence was a government endorsement of religion, which violates the First Amendment.

FFRF passed the deadline for appeal to the Supreme Court on Monday after its Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals loss in August following a five-year-battle against the statue.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judge ruled in August that “the government’s continued authorization of the statue on federal land does not violate the Establishment Clause.”

The decision noted that the government had secular rationales for its continued authorization of the statue, including “the statue’s cultural and historical significance for veterans, Montanans, and tourists; the statue’s inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places; and the government’s intent to preserve the site ‘as a historic part of the resort.’”

The decision added that “there is nothing in the statue’s display or setting to suggest government endorsement; the twelve-foot tall statue is on a mountain, far from any government seat or building, near a commercial ski resort, and accessible only to individuals who pay to use the ski lift.”

FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in an August statement that the Knights of Columbus statue on federal land “means federal taxpayers are subsidizing religious speech, in this case Catholic.”

“FFRF should slink away with its tail between its legs,” Eric Baxter, senior counsel at the Becket Fund and lead attorney in this case, said Monday in a statement on FFRF passing its appeal deadline. “The First Amendment prohibits religious coercion, not religious culture. Picking a fight with a sixty-year-old war memorial makes FFRF look petty.”

“Of course militant atheists have rights, but not the right to dictate history and culture for everyone else,” Baxter added. “Religion is part of the human condition. It’s no surprise—and certainly no violation of the Constitution—that it sometimes manifests in public life.”

It is a wholesome campaign to clean up Britain for the Queen’s birthday – but last night a race row erupted over an unfortunate gaffe.

Posters and T-shirts designed to advertise this weekend’s Clean For The Queen drive mistakenly included a racist slur.

They were meant to show the slogan ‘Spick And Span Ma’am’ but instead used the spelling ‘spic’ – used in the US as an offensive term for Hispanic people.

Twitter users noticed the error last week. One asked: ‘Are you aware you’ve put a racist term on your asinine posters? You’re missing a k.’

Sam Taylor, editor of The Lady, said: ‘If they’re going to go around cleaning up the country they should start by cleaning up their language. It’s an unfortunate mistake and whether or not people are offended, they’ve used the wrong word. ‘I wouldn’t suggest they put it on a commemorative tea towel.’

Clean For The Queen was created by Country Life editor Mark Hedges and Melissa Murdoch, a charity trustee, to mark Her Majesty’s 90th by getting rid of the rubbish blighting our towns and villages.

Although it has no public funding, it has been backed by MPs including David Cameron. Michael Gove and Boris Johnson posed wearing the campaign’s T-shirts and holding litter-pickers, while Kirstie Allsopp and Ben Fogle also lent their support, as did Keep Britain Tidy.

Last night organisers denied the wording was offensive. Campaign director Adrian Evans said: ‘It is an ancient phrase, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, which suggests two options on spelling. Spic and span means neat and clean – which sums up our campaign perfectly.’

The OED states that ‘spic’ is only occasionally used, with ‘spick and span’ the most common spelling.

Spic is more often used as an ‘offensive name for a Spanish-speaking native of Central or South America or the Caribbean

Sunday, March 06, 2016

Sexy shop dummy no good

Shoppers have complained after a 'pornographic' mannequin was put in the window of a high-end watch store in Kent's Bluewater shopping centre.

The pneumatic figure, with blonde hair and a capacious bust that strains against her top, sits astride a missile in the Breitling shop window and has ruffled feathers at the 330-store centre in Greenhithe, Kent.

Shoppers felt highly-sexualised display - in which the mannequin's white knickers are visible - was 'offensive' and unsuitable for a family environment and have voted for removing it in an online petition.

Kirsty Russell, 42, who started the petition on Change.org, wrote: 'Breitling must have lost confidence in the quality of their watches to sell themselves and have stooped to this.

'Their shop display has a woman sitting on either side of a missile with exaggerated breasts, nipples highlighted by a spotlight and her gusset on show. 'I'm offended and I don't think a shop window display like this should be at a family shopping centre - it's vile.'

A spokesman for Breitling, founded in Switzerland in 1884, declined to comment.

A Bluewater spokesman said: 'We are aware of some customer comments regarding Breitling's store display and the matter is now being dealt with directly by the retailer.'

Facebook has irked many conservatives for its hardcore, P.C. persecution of conservative pages that tell the truth about radical Islam, Black Lives Matter, and other far left and anti-American movements. While many have pointed out that this amounts to censorship, it's true that Facebook is a private page, and they have the right to block content they don't like. We just wish that they'd be fair.

What do we mean? When it comes to Donald Trump, Facebook seems to have a double standard. As conservative activist Lauren Southern noted:

Friday, March 04, 2016

A well-meaning warning on pregnancy assailed as demeaning

A federal agency earlier this month issued a warning for women of child-bearing age: Avoid alcohol if you’re sexually active and not using birth control, because you might be pregnant and alcohol can harm a fetus.

The intention was to give women information about choices that affect health.

But the recommendation from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unleashed a barrage of ridicule and fury, as bloggers and commentators denounced it as sexist, patronizing, and alarmist. Even “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” took a few moments to lampoon a graphic that accompanied the advisory — a likely first for a CDC alert.

The backlash surprised a leader of the campaign, Dr. Anne Schuchat, the health agency’s principal deputy director. In a recent interview, Schuchat said she was worried the brouhaha had distracted from an important message.

The uproar illustrates the challenges of encouraging healthy behavior without seeming judgmental, especially when the advice touches on women’s freedom to make choices in pregnancy and childbirth.

Critics attacked the CDC for placing all the burden on women, with no mention of men’s role. They accused the agency of treating women as nothing more than potential vessels for fetuses. They questioned whether drinking was a greater risk to fetuses than, say, getting in a car or a hot tub. Some disputed the scientific validity of the advice, given that it is not known how much alcohol it takes to damage a fetus.

“Women are constantly being told what to do,” Rupali J. Limaye, a research director at Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, said in an interview. The CDC’s message made sense, she said, but it came across as, “Hey women, here’s just another way we’re going to think about restricting your freedom.”

Egypt’s president said Wednesday that excessive criticism of the government is contributing to attempts to bring down the state, telling Egyptians not to listen to anyone but him.

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi did not go into specifics in an address broadcast live, saying only that he would "remove from the face of the Earth" anyone plotting to bring down the state.Subscribe Now

In recent weeks, Egypt has seen startlingly public shows of anger over police abuses and brutality. Rights groups have documented arbitrary arrests, torture and disappearances. Even stalwartly pro-government TV commentators have raised alarm over a series of perceived miscarriages of justice, police brutality and economic problems — a shift from the near blanket avoidance of criticism in the past two years.

El-Sissi appeared angry as he addressed an audience that included public figures, youth groups and university students and some military officers.

"Please, don’t listen to anyone but me. I am dead serious," he said sharply. "Be careful. No one should abuse my patience and good manners to bring down the state."

"I swear by God that anyone who comes near it, I will remove him from the face of the Earth," he said, then added, seeming to address those conspiring against the state, "What do you think you’re doing? Who are you?"

It is "still very early for open democratic practices, like criticizing and pushing (officials) out of office," he said, adding that democracy is being practiced but "under difficult circumstances, so let us safeguard Egypt."

Thursday, March 03, 2016

Advertising for a Polish builder or a barmaid could land businesses in hot water after new guidance was published barring employers from trying to hire someone based on their sex, age of nationality.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has warned businesses that they could be breaking the law should they ask for any particular characteristics in a job advert that would stop certain groups from applying.

An example of a breach, according to the public body, would be for bank advertisement specifying that a permanent address is required, as it might discriminate against Syrian asylum seekers who cannot open a bank account.

The commission specified that there were 'very limited circumstances' in which certain groups may be excluded, the Sunday Times reported, such as a leisure centre advertising women-only swimming as Muslim woman may not wish to swim with men.

The EHRC is a public body was set up following the establishment of the Equality Act in 2006, and is responsible for the promotion and enforcement of non-discrimination in England, Scotland and Wales.

Wednesday, March 02, 2016

Donald Trump Rhetoric Causes Racial Row At High School Basketball Game

Fans at a high school basketball game in Indiana sparked controversy on Friday when they displayed a blown up photo of Donald Trump’s face while chanting “Build a wall” to fans of the opposing team.

Fans from Andrean High School of Merrillville, Indiana were directing their chants toward players and fans of opposing team Bishop Noll, whose student body is primarily composed of Hispanics.

In addition to the image of Trump, the Andrean student fan section displayed a strong USA theme through their attire.

The Andrean administration put an end to the chants as soon as they were aware of the situation and confiscated the rump signage.

Bishop Noll students responded to the chants by shouting back “You’re a racist,” but some of the attendees didn’t seem to pick up a hostile vibe. “It was jovial,” Andrean parent George Galanos told ABC7 Chicago. “It was a lot of fun. There was hugging going on between the teams.”

“There was no animosity going on at the game,” Galanos continued. “You had Andrean people mixing and intermingling with Bishop Noll.”

The Diocese of Gary released a statement Monday acknowledging the Friday night incident, claiming school officials were “greatly distressed by the inappropriate actions of a small group of their students,” the Northwest Indiana Times reports.

Is the American national anthem politically incorrect? From the 4th verse:Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

Mohammad

The truth can be offensive to some but it must be said

"HATE SPEECH" is free speech: The U.S. Supreme Court stated the general rule regarding protected speech in Texas v. Johnson (109 S.Ct. at 2544), when it held: "The government may not prohibit the verbal or nonverbal expression of an idea merely because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable." Federal courts have consistently followed this. Said Virginia federal district judge Claude Hilton: "The First Amendment does not recognize exceptions for bigotry, racism, and religious intolerance or ideas or matters some may deem trivial, vulgar or profane."

Even some advocacy of violence is protected by the 1st Amendment. In Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), the U.S. Supreme Court held unanimously that speech advocating violent illegal actions to bring about social change is protected by the First Amendment "except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action."

The double standard: Atheists can put up signs and billboards saying that Christianity is wrong and that is hunky dory. But if a Christian says that homosexuality is wrong, that is attacked as "hate speech"

One for the militant atheists to consider: "...it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg" -- Thomas Jefferson

"I think no subject should be off-limits, and I regard the laws in many Continental countries criminalizing Holocaust denial as philosophically repugnant and practically useless – in that they confirm to Jew-haters that the Jews control everything (otherwise why aren’t we allowed to talk about it?)" -- Mark Steyn

Voltaire's most famous saying was actually a summary of Voltaire's thinking by one of his biographers rather than something Voltaire said himself. Nonetheless it is a wholly admirable sentiment: "I disagree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it". I am of a similar mind.

The traditional advice about derogatory speech: "Sticks and stones will break your bones but names will never hurt you". Apparently people today are not as emotionally robust as their ancestors were.

Why conservatives should not respond to Leftist abuse: "Never wrestle with a pig, because you'll both just get dirty, and the pig likes it.”

The KKK were members of the DEMOCRATIC party. Google "Klanbake" if you doubt it

A phobia is an irrational fear, so the terms "Islamophobic" and "homophobic" embody a claim that the people so described are mentally ill. There is no evidence for either claim. Both terms are simply abuse masquerading as diagnoses and suggest that the person using them is engaged in propaganda rather than in any form of rational or objective discourse.

Leftists often pretend that any mention of race is "racist" -- unless they mention it, of course. But leaving such irrational propaganda aside, which statements really are racist? Can statements of fact about race be "racist"? Such statements are simply either true or false. The most sweeping possible definition of racism is that a racist statement is a statement that includes a negative value judgment of some race. Absent that, a statement is not racist, for all that Leftists might howl that it is. Facts cannot be racist so nor is the simple statement of them racist. Here is a statement that cannot therefore be racist by itself, though it could be false: "Blacks are on average much less intelligent than whites". If it is false and someone utters it, he could simply be mistaken or misinformed.

Categorization is a basic human survival skill so racism as the Left define it (i.e. any awareness of race) is in fact neither right nor wrong. It is simply human

Whatever your definition of racism, however, a statement that simply mentions race is not thereby racist -- though one would think otherwise from American Presidential election campaigns. Is a statement that mentions dogs, "doggist" or a statement that mentions cats, "cattist"?

If any mention of racial differences is racist then all Leftists are racist too -- as "affirmative action" is an explicit reference to racial differences

Was Abraham Lincoln a racist? "You and we are different races. We have between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss, but this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think your race suffer very greatly, many of them by living among us, while ours suffer from your presence. In a word, we suffer on each side. If this be admitted, it affords a reason at least why we should be separated. It is better for both, therefore, to be separated." -- Spoken at the White House to a group of black community leaders, August 14th, 1862

Gimlet-eyed Leftist haters sometimes pounce on the word "white" as racist. Will the time come when we have to refer to the White House as the "Full spectrum of light" House?

The spirit of liberty is "the spirit which is not too sure that it is right." and "Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. While it lies there it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it." -- Judge Learned Hand

Mostly, a gaffe is just truth slipping out

Two lines below of a famous hymn that would be incomprehensible to Leftists today ("honor"? "right"? "freedom?" Freedom to agree with them is the only freedom they believe in)

First to fight for right and freedom,
And to keep our honor clean

It is of course the hymn of the USMC -- still today the relentless warriors that they always were.

It seems a pity that the wisdom of the ancient Greek philosopher Epictetus is now little known. Remember, wrote the Stoic thinker, "that foul words or blows in themselves are no outrage, but your judgment that they are so. So when any one makes you angry, know that it is your own thought that has angered you. Wherefore make it your endeavour not to let your impressions carry you away."

"Since therefore the knowledge and survey of vice is in this world so necessary to the constituting of human virtue, and the scanning of error to the confirmation of truth, how can we more safely, and with less danger, scout into the regions of sin and falsity than by reading all manner of tractates, and hearing all manner of reason?" -- English poet John Milton (1608-1674) in Areopagitica

Leftists can try to get you fired from your job over something that you said and that's not an attack on free speech. But if you just criticize something that they say, then that IS an attack on free speech

The intellectual Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) could have been speaking of much that goes on today when he said: "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."

I despair of the ADL. Jews have enough problems already and yet in the ADL one has a prominent Jewish organization that does its best to make itself offensive to Christians. Their Leftism is more important to them than the welfare of Jewry -- which is the exact opposite of what they ostensibly stand for! Jewish cleverness seems to vanish when politics are involved. Fortunately, Christians are true to their saviour and have loving hearts. Jewish dissatisfaction with the myopia of the ADL is outlined here. Note that Foxy was too grand to reply to it.

There are also two blogspot blogs which record what I think are my main recent articles here and here. Similar content can be more conveniently accessed via my subject-indexed list of short articles here or here (I rarely write long articles these days)

NOTE: The archives provided by blogspot below are rather inconvenient. They break each month up into small bits. If you want to scan whole months at a time, the backup archives will suit better. See here or here